


A Different Flight

by Chibifukurou



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:34:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28233252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibifukurou/pseuds/Chibifukurou
Summary: I wish to take a bath, and you promised me an oiling before the Gather.So I did, my love.Moreta began to unwinder herself from the bedclothes. Alessan gave a sleepy grumble at the movement. Her Weyrleader rarely woke quickly when there was not a Fall to bring him from his bed. He clutched at her waist, his dark, broad hands tangling in her sleeping shift.
Relationships: Alessan/Moreta (Dragonriders Of Pern), Moreta & Orlith (Dragonriders of Pern)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	A Different Flight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Merfilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/gifts).



Moreta woke to Orlith’s sleepy grumbles about her scales itching. Heavy with eggs, her scales were always giving her trouble. And she understandably preferred her rider’s help in seeing to the proper ablutions. As reaching the fullness of her belly had become increasingly difficult.

_I wish to take a bath, and you promised me an oiling before the Gather._

_So I did, my love._ Moreta began unwinding herself from the bedclothes. Alessan gave a sleepy grumble at the movement. Her Weyrleader rarely woke quickly when there was not a Fall to bring him from his bed. He clutched at her waist, his dark, broad hands tangling in her sleeping shift.

Moreta smiled at the clinginess as she gently pulled his hands away. This, at last, brought him to conciousness. His pale green eyes peaked out beneath his lashes. Only a moment later, a mischievous grin curved across his placid face. “Good morning, my Weyrwoman.”

The kiss was deep and toe-curlingly good. It temped her to stay in bed until another grumble from Orlith forced her to pull away. She lay in the circle of Alessan’s arms, panting. Their shared breath mingled in the hollow formed by their bodies. “Orlith needs to bathe.”

“And you will need to bathe after she does, as the cleaner she gets the dirtier you do.” Alessan chuckled. It was an old joke between Moreta and Orlith. And her body was suffused with warmth to hear Alessan share in this knowledge. Only one mating flight since Moreta had become Weyrwoman and already their lives were enmeshing.

Alessan’s steady nature had always served him and his bronze well as they flew against the thread, and he had only strengthened the Wyre since he had become Weyrleader. Eight more turns and then the Pass would be over. And they could start to think about creating a life and perhaps even a family of their own.

Now though, their duties came first. “Ruatha Gather is this afternoon.”

“I haven’t forgotten. I still wish to talk to Mother about having Oklina come to the Hatching. I think she would do well in the Weyr.”

“It will be hard on her, having you both gone,” Moreta said.

“I know, but Oklina is a free spirit. If we wait until there is another clutch.” He trailed off.

But Moreta didn’t need him to continue. She was Hold born too. If they waited for another clutch, Oklina would most likely be engaged. And her husband would get to decide if she was Searched. No, better for Alessan to try and ask his mother’s favor. Oklina was a bright girl, inquisitive and interested in the world outside of Ruatha. She would make a fine Rider.

“We will speak to you mother together. She has seen how well you have done and I can tell her how it was when I left my Hold.”

He pulled her in for another searing kiss. This time in gratitude. Their shared dedication to the Weyr and Pern’s protection was what bound them together, but Moreta thought she could learn to be bound to his family as well. A strange change from her own easy separation from her family. The loss of them was only a distant sadness so different from Alessan’s continued worries.

Alessan untangled the rest of the way from her, allowing her to prepare for the day. He would no doubt get up and begin his own preparations while she and Orlith bathed.

For now, though, he seemed content to watch her pull on a short work frock, suitable for the bathing of a dragon in the large pools that lay at the bottom of the Weyr’s volcanic bowl. It was a simple dress, browned by the constant dunking in the sandy water and short enough that it barely passed her knees. She’d had it for turns, and it was wearing thin around the hem. But under Alessan’s eyes she felt as though she was wearing a fine Gather dress.

She couldn’t resist giving a small twirl, just to have more of that intoxicating attention. He let out another chuckle. “Go tend your dragon, my Lady. And then this afternoon we will go see the races.”

The races! All the fuss about Clutching and family had put them out of her mind. But now the excitement sprung back into her mind. An afternoon spent with Alessan in his home hold, watching the runner beast’s racing. It sounded like heaven.

With that in mind, she found herself hurrying to where Orlith perched, impatiently waiting for her rider to join her. There was so much to do, and she didn’t want to miss a moment of the fun.

Together rider and dragon lept into the air and made their slow circling flight down into the bowl of the Weyr.

*

Despite her best efforts, Moreta was running late for the Gather. Between cleaning and oiling Orlith, and then being caught for a long discussion with Nesso, the entire morning had passed in the blink of an eye. She stumbled back into her room, feeling decidedly dirty. She couldn’t bear to go to the gather without cleaning herself properly, but she hated the idea of missing any of the racing.

She needn’t have worried, as always Alessan seemed to know her better than she knew herself. Her gather dress and jewelry were laid out on the freshly made bed. Every piece of jewelry sparkled as if freshly shined. She would only need to bathe quickly and she would be back on schedule.

Sometimes, Moreta thought of how different things would have been if Alessan had not coxed his father, Lord Leef into allowing him to be Searched. How would she bear being Weyrwoman with anyone else. Her mind turned away from thinking of Sh’gall. The only other bronze rider in the Weyr who would have been able to fly Orlith. There would be no lazy mornings, or talk of family if he was Weyrleader.

She would have felt so very alone.

But such dark thoughts had no place on a Gather day. When the weather was bright, and there was no Thread in the sky.

She slipped off her work frock and lowered herself into the steaming bath, rubbing handfuls of sweet sand into her skin. Orlith’s teasing commentary starting up to distract her from her darker thoughts.

She had an afternoon of racing with Alessan at her side and Orlith’s thoughts in her mind to look forward to. The rest of the world could wait its turn.


End file.
